Confirmed with Link: Laine, 2nd 2026 to Montreal for Jordan Harris

[CBJWerenski8]

I think Christiansen and Mateychuk will be noticeably better than JJ and likely play ahead of him.

I'm considering a Harris - Severson pairing. Severson's best success in his career came in 2022-23 when his main D partners were Kevin Bahl and Brendan Smith. Defensive D like Harris. Though of course Harris is more cerebral and non physical.

Then who do you have with Werenski? Provorov? Jiricek? Gudbranson?

 

[VT]

I think Christiansen and Mateychuk will be noticeably better than JJ and likely play ahead of him.

I'm considering a Harris - Severson pairing. Severson's best success in his career came in 2022-23 when his main D partners were Kevin Bahl and Brendan Smith. Defensive D like Harris. Though of course Harris is more cerebral and non physical.

Maybe, but I am not sure if Evason wants one of Gudbranson/Jiříček with Werenski. Although all can be, of course.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I think Christiansen and Mateychuk will be noticeably better than JJ and likely play ahead of him.

This is the Harris thread so I'll reply to this by quickly saying camp will be interesting as the club remakes its defense with many of the same pieces.

I'm considering a Harris - Severson pairing. Severson's best success in his career came in 2022-23 when his main D partners were Kevin Bahl and Brendan Smith. Defensive D like Harris. Though of course Harris is more cerebral and non physical.

Someone above pointed out that Harris is an "either side" guy and that made me think we might need him in the right side, so probably not with Severson? I like your thinking though.

 

[majormajor]

Then who do you have with Werenski? Provorov? Jiricek? Gudbranson?

I wasn't thinking that far ahead.

In pre-season I'd like to see Werenski-Mateychuk get a shot. Call me crazy.

 

[Cowumbus]

Wouldn’t konecny scoring 30 more points than both of his linemates show that he was not, in fact, elevating his linemates?

He’s not an elite player. The point is that his linemates are not very good and he still finds a way to produce.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I wasn't thinking that far ahead.

In pre-season I'd like to see Werenski-Mateychuk get a shot. Call me crazy.

Hell yeah. I’m gonna need to see some camp and preseason to help me decide what I think should happen with Denton and David (and Jake and JJ).

I’ve argued in the past that it’s possible for both a player to be better than another player right now; and that same player to benefit over the course of his career by playing in the AHL while a “worse” player plays in the NHL to both be true.

 

[majormajor]

wouldn't konecny scoring 30 more points than both of his linemates show that he was not, in fact, elevating his linemates?

No.

 

[NotCommitted]

The performance of any player is largely dependent on the team around them, if you dig through the numbers it starts to look pretty clear even Connor McDavid benefits hugely from having certain kind of player(s) in his line, but of course those players benefit from McDavid even more, but the end result is a line seemingly better than it parts. Like McDavid has reached another level playing with Zach Hyman, but Zach Hyman has reached like 3 new levels playing with McDavid

What does this mean for Jordan Harris though? I get a Jake Bean 2.0 vibe, but I don't know if that 2.0 means like the new and improved, or repeat of the original. I don't know if that comparison makes any sense though, I haven't watched Harris play. Obviously he doesn't have the draft pedigree Bean had, but that might be a good thing. From what I hear Harris is of the "all around" type, which sounds like he might be a decent addition. The Jackets currently don't have the kind of structure or partners to maximize the development and value of lopsided talents.

 

[VT]

The performance of any player is largely dependent on the team around them, if you dig through the numbers it starts to look pretty clear even Connor McDavid benefits hugely from having certain kind of player(s) in his line, but of course those players benefit from McDavid even more, but the end result is a line seemingly better than it parts. Like McDavid has reached another level playing with Zach Hyman, but Zach Hyman has reached like 3 new levels playing with McDavid

What does this mean for Jordan Harris though? I get a Jake Bean 2.0 vibe, but I don't know if that 2.0 means like the new and improved, or repeat of the original. I don't know if that comparison makes any sense though, I haven't watched Harris play. Obviously he doesn't have the draft pedigree Bean had, but that might be a good thing. From what I hear Harris is of the "all around" type, which sounds like he might be a decent addition. The Jackets currently don't have the kind of structure or partners to maximize the development and value of lopsided talents.

From what I've read it seems to me that Harris is a similar player to Danforth. Not in style, but in that he is versatile, such a Swiss Army knife. And although he's a rather average defender, players like that are always useful.

 

[majormajor]

If Harris were an all-around player he would produce some offense. So far he's pure defense.

And Danforth, when he's on, will score goals, run around and hit, drive good defensive results, win faceoffs, etc... I think Harris is a defensive defenseman, of the non physical variety, I don't think he'll be a swiss army knife. Bean was also soft but his D results were never as good as Harris' D results. So I'm excited to add him.

 

[VT]

If Harris were an all-around player he would produce some offense. So far he's pure defense.

And Danforth, when he's on, will score goals, run around and hit, drive good defensive results, win faceoffs, etc... I think Harris is a defensive defenseman, of the non physical variety, I don't think he'll be a swiss army knife. Bean was also soft but his D results were never as good as Harris' D results. So I'm excited to add him.

Can't remember where anymore, but it was written somewhere that his offense is pretty underrated. So we'll see.
Beane has been injured a lot, it's hard to evaluate him. But his attacking skills are good. In defense ... Too bad he wasn't stronger, or at least didn't start using his skill on defense like Boqvist started to do.

Speaking of those who left after the season, I have a feeling Laine, Texier, Boqvist and Bean will all play great this season, especially Laine and Boqvist.